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Metallica
St. Anger
Elektra Records

Review by Tate Blackmore

When Metallica released their video for One, their first ever, MTV showed two versions: one of the band jamming, interspersed with scenes from the film Johnny Get Your Gun, and another just of the band entitled, One (Jam Session). However, I often thought that a true Metallica jam session would sound much more chaotic than the thundering precision of One. The band's newest album, St. Anger, captures the true fury of such a jam session.

The opener, Frantic is, rightly so, all over the place, setting the tone for what's to come. The band grinds its way through each tune, bouncing from riff to riff, presumably whenever it feels natural. This is nothing like the structured Metallica we've been subjected to over the last few years. St. Anger is definitely not King Nothing's brother, that's for sure. Each song is more like a series of little sections, mish-mashed into six-minute packages, similar to the non-linear structure Blind Melon flew with on their second album, Soup. However unlike that effort, St. Anger fails more than it triumphs.

Lost deep in each song there truly are some shining moments, though getting to them means listening to the entire song, which can be daunting. The same rapidly grinding riff begins each track, making it damn near impossible to distinguish one song from the other.

On the lyrical side, things go from bad to worse. The word on the street is that drummer Lars Ulrich and guitarist Kirk Hammet helped lead screamer James Hetfield pen many of the songs on the album, which may explain awkward statements like, "Not only do I not know the answer, I don't even know what the question is...sucka!" Shorter statements, like, "My lifestyle determines my deathstyle," and "I'm madly in anger with you!" fail to make a point, simply because they don't make a lick of sense.

However, the most puzzling aspect of St. Anger comes in the mix. Co-producers Bob Rock and Metallica have concocted one of the most abrasive and downright irritating mixes in rock music. Lars Ulrich sounds like he's keeping the tempo by whacking a broomstick off of a hunk of metal. Not only is it annoying, it's also the most predominant sound in each song, obscuring most of the intricate guitar work.

This is definitely an album that requires more than one listen. It is not as easily accessible as their 1991 self-titled album, a.k.a. The Black Album, which was loaded with radio singles. Though, given a chance, tracks like Some Kind of Monster, My World, the title-track, and All Within My Hands- the album's closer, can really get heads banging.

Overall, we might not be catching Metallica at their best. But with all they have gone through in the past few years, this was a very necessary album to make. They're cleaning the slate, much like Foo Fighters did with There is Nothing Left to Lose, an album that helped them abolish their Nirvana-style soft verse/ loud chorus song formula. The best thing about an album like St. Anger is that you know whatever follows will most likely be great, because there's nothing like a good jam session to get you on the right track.

Review by Lando da Pimp

A few weeks ago on MTV-ICON James Hetfield discussed his past lyrics are full of personal darkness and aggression. Fast forward to Metallica's eighth studio album St. Anger, and you will discover that Hetfield has bared his most personal aggression to date. St. Anger is Hetfield's therapy. The last few years have been rough for Metallica. Their previous studio efforts Load and Reload, created controversy with the core Metallica fan base. Fans accused the boys of selling out. The whole Napster controversy had the listening public accusing Metallica of being greedy. Jason Newstead quit the band citing creative differences with Hetfield. And to top it all off James checked himself into rehab for alcoholism putting St. Anger behind schedule. Lyrics like "It comes alive and I die a little more" from the Unnamed Feeling shows Hetfield's fight against his demons.

St. Anger is a way of answering the question that many have been asking. Can Metallica still rock out? Like Load and Reload before it, St. Anger is an experiment for Metallica. Drifting away from the Metallica Formula James, Lars, Kirk, and Bob Rock (producer) have created a unique sounding album. That is St. Anger's fault. St. Anger, the title track, opens up very strong but ends in a chaotic mess that goes nowhere. In the middle of the song you can just hear the solo dying to come out but never does. Metallica felt that solos didn't fit into the song structures. Kirk is a very accomplished guitarist and not seeing his skills showcased feels like a big mistake.

If you watch the concert film A Year & a Half in the Life of Metallica Bob Rock wanted to capture the live Metallica concert sound for the Black Album. This time he captured the sound reminiscent of the album ...and Justice for All. The sound of St. Anger is very raw. The bass is mixed way down over the annoyingly ping sound of the snare drum.

The one thing you can say about Metallica is that they have respect for the fans. The album comes with a free DVD of Metallica playing the album in a garage like atmosphere. Every album also comes with a pass key to access an online collection of concert MP3's. Is this a way for Metallica to encourage people to purchase the album? If it is it's a great solution.

St. Anger is a great experiment that at times seems incomplete. Change can be a good thing. I have great respect for Metallica for taking the chance in putting out something different. Does this album satisfy my need for Metallica? In a way it does. Will it satisfy hardcore fans that have been around since the Kill Them All era? They will never be satisfied. That is not what Metallica set out to do. They create the music that they need to make.

Read the Radiohead: Hail to the Thief review by Lando and Tate.

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